The Crumbling Surface
by bokunonetorare
Summary: Kuroko Tetsuya disappears right before graduation, only to return fifteen years later without having aged a single day. AU. Aomine/Kuroko
1. Fast Forward

**The Crumbling Surface**

**Pairings: **Aomine/Kuroko, Kise/Momoi

**Rating:** M

**Summary: **Kuroko Tetsuya disappears right before graduation, only to return fifteen years later without having aged a single day.

* * *

Chapter 1 : Fast Forward

* * *

There was a time Aomine took part in investigating a series of murders involving the brutal deaths of five childen under the age of twelve. It was a fairly big case, and the Japanese public were constantly on the watch, keeping track of recent developments regarding the murders.

It didn't take long for the investigation team to find the murderer. A fifteen year old boy named Nao Ayukawa confessed that he was behind the gruesome killings. He claimed that he was inspired by the Kobe child murders back in '97. Ayukawa said that he experienced a 'spiritual resonance' with the work of Seito Sakakibara and was moved to tears.

Aomine was one of the two officers with him in the interrogation room. Since his partner fared better than he did when it came to these things, Aomine decided to let him do most of the talking. They started asking questions and the boy did his best to reply to each one. He sat on his chair and kept proper posture. He was mild mannered and never stuttered. This overly courteous facade was more insulting than Aomine had expected.

This boy had no concern over human life, he knew the weight of his actions but that didn't matter. The consequences were all trivial. To see him act as if he actually cared was all part of some overly elaborate joke.

Growing tired of Ayukawa's act, Aomine's partner put down his pen and slammed his hands on the table. "Ayukawa-kun, you must think that because you're being protected by the juvenile law that you can go on pretending like this is no big deal. But it is, Ayukawa-kun. Taking a person's life _**is**_a big deal**. **Even if you were to be set free on this very day, you will be carrying that burden with you until you die."

Ayukawa wasn't fazed, but his expression darkened.

"You won't get to me like this." Ayukawa said. "I won't apologize for any of these deaths. I wish I could at least feel the tiniest bit of remorse, but I can't. I don't care anymore. I'm neither happy or sad about this and maybe that's what I should apologize for."

Aomine couldn't utter a single word throughout the interrogation. By the end of it, Aomine was dried up. He stepped out of that room never understanding the kind of world Nao Ayukawa saw.

Being underage, Ayukawa's identity was hidden from the public and he was simply labeled as "Boy A". Case closed.

Two years later, Aomine left the police force.

* * *

Aomine took out a can of beer from the fridge and sat down the couch. He turned on the TV to watch the news. These days, everything was about the thirty year old Kise Ryota's 'forbidden relationship' with a sixteen year old actress.

Aomine couldn't help but put on a bitter grin. This was the guy he played basketball with in middle school. They weren't exactly good friends, but they got along well enough. Both of them should've gone pro, they had the height, the talent and the technique to do so. However, by the time Aomine hit eighteen he lost the competitiveness athletes needed to excel. He guessed the same could be said for Kise.

But enough about basketball.

Who would've thought that Kise's acting career would take off? He was modelling for fashion magazines, but he wasn't very popular at all. It wasn't until he did small acting stints in commercials that Kise started gaining a lot of attention.

Kise Ryota may be one of the most popular actors in Japan, but he was also in danger of being branded a lolicon. Aomine was now a self-proclaimed private investigator tracking down missing cats. That seemed fair enough.

Aomine's mobile phone began to ring. He dug through his pockets. He had to shove aside his keys and a couple of coins before he could successfully take out his phone. "H-Hello?"

"Oh! Dai-chan?" Her voice always brought back memories of highschool.

"Satsuki?"

She laughed. "Hey Dai-chan it's been a—"

"How'd you get this number?"

"Geez, you're unromantic as ever."

"Says the girl who stopped seeing me last year. You've got some nerve."

"Stupid, you can't call a thirty year old woman a 'girl'! You're an idiot!" Momoi always lost her cool around him. "Look I'm really sorry but I have own issues too, you know? You're not the only one who can quit his job and disappear. I was worn out too."

He could hear her sigh on the the other line. Aomine hated himself for acting like a child but he couldn't help it. Momoi had been out of touch of a whole year, whenever he asked her parents and friends where she was, they could only mutter things like: "She needs space." or "Satsuki's trying to sort things out." They gave him the most cryptic answers they could possibly come up with. Prior to her big disappearance, Momoi had been writing sports columns for a small sports magazine. Being one of the few women in the business, she was always eager to prove herself. This mentality of hers eventually took a toll on Momoi. By the time she reached her limit, no one could get through her.

Aomine and Momoi were friends since childhood. They've been through a lot of things together and Momoi stood by his side for the longest time. In an ideal world, they would've gotten married after college. Reality was a little different though. It was hard to say what stopped them from being together, but whatever it was, they didn't mind it all too much. They were fine the way they were.

"Why did you call Satsuki?" Aomine knew he had to wait for an answer. Momoi usually took her time when it came to answering difficult questions.

"Let's meet up, Dai-chan. I know a nice place we can have dinner together."

* * *

Momoi was the type of person who drew attention to her wherever she went. The moment stepped into the restaurant, everyone's eyes were on her. She took the free seat in front of Aomine, set aside her Coach shoulder bag and took off her sunglasses. Watching her do these things kept Aomine occupied, she moved so gracefully that it almost hurt to think that he could never fall in love with such a beautiful woman.

"How's everything Aomine-kun?" She didn't like switching from Dai-chan to Aomine-kun whenever they were in public, but it was a difficult habit to fix. Aomine wasn't very fond of being called Dai-chan in front of other people She placed her arms over the table and studied every inch of his face. "I missed you."

"Same here."

She picked up the menu and read through it. This was an unnecessary act though. Momoi had been there countless times and she knew exactly what she wanted.

Aomine gives up reading halfway through. "Satsuki, just tell me what I should order."

* * *

After dessert Momoi took out a square shaped, white envelope from her bag. She placed it on the table and pushed it towards Aomine.

"What's this?" Aomine picked it up and opened it, inside was an intricately designed card.

"It's a wedding invitation."

"Who's getting married?"

Momoi licked her lips and shook her head. "You're terrible."

"Huh?"

"I'm getting married Aomine-kun." She ran a hand through her hair. "I'm getting married to Kise Ryota."

"What?" Aomine could've sworn the world was playing a cruel joke on him.

"It's a long story but I'll try to make it as short as possible. You see, when I 'disappeared' last year, all I did was travel around Japan. Kise and I met in a cafe in Okinawa. Weird, right? But life's like that. He looked pretty shocked too. He walked up to me and he was trying really hard not to comment on my boobs. So instead of that, he brought _you _up._ Thanks to you, _we spent a lot of a our time reminiscing about middle school basketball."

"So you're saying I played a part in getting the two of you together? I..I'm not sure how that makes me feel."

"Don't be such a smartass. Anyway, we were talking and it's funny but- I started to think that I could actually marry this man. Like, I wouldn't mind living with him in the same house and having these conversations with him all the time. It was strange, but Kise looked like he was having the same thoughts as I did. Everything happened really fast and now..." She snapped her fingers. "...we're getting married."

"Sounds just like a movie." He wasn't quite sure how to feel about the whole situation. "You are aware that he's been putting his dick inside a sixteen year old girl, right? It's all over the news."

"It's a publicity stunt. Kise's filming a drama with that girl. Have you heard of it? It's about a teacher who falls in love with his student. I'm not that stupid, Aomine-kun. If there was something going on, I'd be the first to know."

"Woman's intuition, huh?" Aomine scratched the back of his neck.

Momoi watched Aomine's tried to form a coherent reply. He looked just like he did when they were kids. Aomine always had a hard time dealing with these things. He was being left behind by the only girl who stuck with him, and the feeling was unbearable.

"You'll be okay, won't you Aomine-kun?"

It felt as if a heavy weight was pressed on his chest. He couldn't breathe. "As long as you're happy."

* * *

Aomine walked her to the train station. "You be careful."

"You too."

Momoi wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Aomine-kun, we talked about Tetsu-kun too." Aomine froze as she whispered those words to his ears. "Kise-kun cried a lot when we did. I told him that we had to forgive ourselves for what happened or else we wouldn't be able to move forward. Aomine-kun, you never stopped blaming yourself, didn't you? But you have to forgive yourself. People can't live like this."

Those were her last words before boarding the train.

* * *

Kuroko Tetsuya had been missing for nearly fifteen years. The last time anyone saw him was on the day of graduation in Teiko middle school. While it was relatively easy to trace where he lived and who his parents were, there were no leads as to where Kuroko may have been.

Aomine felt partially responsible. After all, he and Kuroko were friends. He was the person the boy was closest to. They walked home together, played basketball and they even went out together from time to time. The boy was like a little brother to him but it wasn't long until certain things caused them to drift apart. Before he knew it, he and Kuroko stopped being friends.

It was laughable. People who disappear are essentially suspended in time. They never age. Kuroko in his mind would be the same fifteen year old boy. He wasn't quite a person anymore. His whole being was now based on the collected memories of persons A and B. Kuroko had turned into a ghost, whether he was dead or alive didn't matter.

_If I had the chance, I would search for Tetsu again. _

That night, Aomine received a text message from an unknown number.

_I KNOW HOW TO FIND TETSUYA. _

* * *

**Notes:** I know some people are impatient but the intention was to flesh out Aomine as much as possible. I like to think that despite Aomine being 30 in this fic, this story is still a coming of age one. Thank you for reading and I hope that as I continue writing, I'll keep improving! You might notice come changes in the story, this is because I'll be revising as much as I can.


	2. Hotel

**The Crumbling Surface**

**Pairings: **Aomine/Kuroko, Kise/Momoi

**Rating:** M

**Summary: **Kuroko Tetsuya disappears right before graduation, only to return fifteen years later without having aged a single day.

* * *

Chapter 2 : Hotel

* * *

_I KNOW HOW TO FIND TETSUYA._

The word used is 'how' not 'where', an indication that he was going to have to perform some sort of procedure in order to get to where this 'Tetsuya' was. There was no proof that the Tetsuya mentioned in the message was indeed his missing classmate but Aomine was willing to take chances. He spent most of his adult life living each day as if it were his last, he had nothing to lose.

He tried calling the person who sent him the message. The phone rang but no one answered. He did this around eight to ten times within varying intervals, nothing changed. This person wasn't willing to speak to him.

Aomine lit a cigarette and wispy smoke wafted across the his living room, seeing the smoke dissipate only reminded him of the comfortable life he was living in the spacious apartment he rented. As he smoked his cigarette, Aomine remembered one of his old colleagues named Koyama. He was the only person he knew who had experience tracing people through their phone numbers. He also happened to be a chronic masturbator, a secret Koyama spilled when he and Aomine and other two co-workers were drunk.

Aomine had his trump card and all he had to do was make the call. But first, he had to do some grocery shopping. He wore a hooded jacket over his favorite shirt, put on a pair of jeans and went out.

* * *

On the way to the nearest supermarket, Aomine slowly began to regret not calling Koyama. As he walked down an empty path, a red Toyota Corolla parked right next to him. The driver rolled down the tinted windows, revealing a fat, bald man with a moustache wearing a black suit. He lifted his hand and gestured Aomine to come over.

"Get in the car." The driver said. "We'll take you to Tetsuya."

The door to the back seat swung open and a skinny man. Again, he was donning a black suit.

_Who are these guys? Yakuza members? _Aomine pondered on the possibility that these guys were out for blood. He was an ex-cop, it was natural to assume that some people wanted him dead.

"How'd you know about Tetsuya?"

"Sorry, I can't say. We were hired to pick you up, nothing else. I'd love to have you talk directly to my client, but he's a rather private person. I know it's hard to trust a fat guy with a moustache wearing a black suit. That can't be helped. If it makes you feel better you can sit beside me in the passenger's seat."

"Don't make me laugh. Come out here and let me frisk you."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"No."

The driver shut off his engine and stepped out of the car.

* * *

Despite their appearance, the two men who picked up Aomine turned out to be rather pleasant people. The three of them ended up talking during the trip.

"You a cop?" The skinny man who sat in the backseat looked at Aomine through the rear view mirror.

"I used to be. I'm just a private investigator now." Aomine turned around to look at him. "What about you? How long have you guys been working for this boss of yours?"

"Not that long. You're our first job. I work full time at a bookstore, this is just something I do for extra cash. It pays pretty well." The thin man pointed over to the driver. "He's the one who got me into this. He's a taxi driver. Hey, how'd you get to work for him anyway?"

The bald man scratched his chin. "He had newspaper ads saying that he was looking for a part time driver. I've never met him of course. Most of the time, it's someone else working under him who relays the messages."

Aomine noted how cautious these two were when it came to sharing personal information. They didn't give out their names and they didn't ask him his either. Whoever it was that they working for, his desire for privacy was bordering on eccentricity.

"Seems like a nutcase to me."

"Nutcase or not, he pays well." The driver replied jokingly. The sky darkened and night crept in.

* * *

They stopped at an inconspicuous looking hotel. Aomine looked at the sign, 'The Evergreen' it said. He stifled a laugh. Whoever named this hotel had a terrible sense of humor.

"You're on your own from here." The driver said. "Someone will be there to take you to the person you've been looking for. We'll be out here waiting. Not many people pass by The Evergreen so it should be fine."

Aomine hesitantly waved a hand before entering The Evergreen. He stepped inside and found himself inside a rather hollow lobby. The bellboy was chatting up the female receptionist and there were a two people watching the news on a plasma tv installed on the wall. The Evergreen's lobby wasn't too shabby, it had marble floors and an audaciously large chandelier as its centerpiece. It was decent at best.

He slowly approached to the receptionist. As Aomine neared, the bellboy quickly pulled away.

The receptionist looked somewhere between twenty to twenty five. She had short black hair that framed her face , the bright red lipstick she wore was the perfect contrast to her pale skin.

"Hi." He said.

"Aomine-san?" She smiled.

"That's me."

"We've been expecting you."

_We? _Aomine didn't like the sound of that.

"Room 605. You won't be needing any keys." The receptionist's words triggered a realization. Whoever sent him there wasn't going to let it all end here. He forced a smile and went off to take the lift.

He walked the narrow hallways, and searched for room 605. His footsteps echoed through the hotel. As he passed by room 603, Aomine felt like he was sixteen again, foolishly throwing himself into the maelstrom. He saw the door to room 605 and contemplated whether he should just walk in or at least knock.

Aomine took a deep breath and knocked three times. A few seconds later and someone opened the door, before him stood a man around the same age as he was. Like the two men who drove Aomine to the hotel, he too was wearing a black suit. However, he had this grimy quality about him that immediately annoyed Aomine.

"Aomine-san?"

"Yeah."

The man let him in. Aomine looked around the room and saw erotic magazines and bottles of beer on the floor. He glanced over to television to see that this man had been watching porn.

"There he is." The man directed Aomine's attention to the small bed near the window.

The image of Kuroko Tetsuya sleeping on that bed didn't quite register in his mind. Aomine started to believe that he may have gone insane, and this whole thing was nothing but a complex concoction of the poisoned mind. He took a closer look. Kuroko was so still that even as his chest rose with every breath, Aomine had a hard time accepting that this was a real person made of flesh, skin and bone.

Kuroko was perfectly preserved, untouched by the harsh fifteen years that passed by. Whoever brought him here was a sadistic bastard, nothing said that more than the freshly pressed Teiko middle school uniform.

Aomine covered his mouth, muffling a gasp. There wasn't quite anything like the sensation he was feeling in his chest at that time.

He slowly went to check the boy's pulse. He was alive.

"Kinky bastard." The man said. "Although, I have to admit that a school uniform sure is nice. It got me off a few times without touching. Touching was a big no-no, the boss said."

Aomine turned around to face him, he then reached out, grabbed the man's nose and in one swift movement, broke it with a forceful twist.

A shrill cry of pain flooded the confines of the hotel room.

"We could do this all night, but I doubt you know anything about the man who hired you. I'll be taking this kid with me now. Your boss owes me that much." Without another word, he proceeded to carry Kuroko on his back. He left the hotel room and took the lift once more.

The receptionist's eyes followed Aomine as he crossed the lobby.

* * *

Linda Linda by The Blue Hearts started playing on the car's radio. In the backseat, Aomine positioned Kuroko to sleep on his lap.

"So that's Tetsuya." The driver commented as he made a right turn.

"Ah. Yeah. About this...I broke your co-worker's nose."

The two men laughed at Aomine.

The driver slowed down as they neared a red light. "If its the sex addict then don't apologize. He's had it coming for a while. I hate that guy."

* * *

Kuroko slept on the bed while Aomine slept on the floor. It was three in the morning, but he couldn't fall asleep. Instead, he watched Kuroko sleep for the longest time. He was yet to let the reality sink in, tears rolled down his cheeks without him fully comprehending what that meant.

Aomine Daiki covered his face, his sobs turned into laughter.

* * *

**Notes: **Hello! Thank you for the reviews, faves and follows! (I'll leave replies once this is posted!) I wasn't quite expecting this kind of response, but I'm very happy to see people are reading this! As usual, this was the second part which also focuses a lot on the set up. I can't say this is for everyone, but the fic is going to include a certain degree to perversion and violence. One of the reasons I surrounded Aomine with perverts was to reflect his own sexual frustrations. Unfortunately, this fic is un-betaed so excuse any mistakes. I'm always looking forward to how people see the story so please leave your thoughts!


	3. The Zoo Fire

**The Crumbling Surface**

**Pairings: **Aomine/Kuroko, Kise/Momoi

**Rating:** M

**Summary: **Kuroko Tetsuya disappears right before graduation, only to return fifteen years later without having aged a single day.

* * *

Chapter 3 : The Zoo Fire

* * *

That night, Aomine dreamt of an old conversation he had with Kuroko. Essentially, it was merely a re-enactment of an old memory- a scene taken from a film reel.

"Have you ever heard of the Horii Zoo fire?" Kuroko sat across Aomine as they did their homework.

Aomine was stuck with a math problem that had nothing to do with zoos or fires so Kuroko's question was of little importance to him.

"That's a weird question to ask. I'm not the type to read about zoo fires, so...no, I have not heard of the Horii Zoo fire." Aomine glanced upwards so his eyes could meet with Kuroko's. He had a sly grin on his face. Aomine enjoyed annoying Kuroko with his obliviousness to things like that.

Kuroko sighed. "Such an unnecessarily long answer. You could've just ended it at 'No'."

"Unnecessary? You're the one asking about zoo fires. Who gives a shit about these things anyway?"

"Me. That's who." The smaller boy replied curtly. "It's true not many people care about kangaroos and monkeys dying. But I care, is that so wrong?"

Aomine snickered and shook his head. "You sure are something."

The Horii Zoo fire was never brought up again. The dream ends and Aomine wakes up finding himself regretting the things he had said. If had known better, he would've given Kuroko a different answer. Even beasts deserved to be mourned.

He got up from the spare futon he slept on and checked to see if Kuroko had awakened. The boy was still sound asleep. It was as if this person had drowned out the outside world's noise, sleeping at the bottom of the ocean.

"How is it there, Tetsu?"

* * *

At exactly four 'o clock in the afternoon, Kuroko Tetsuya was finally freed from his long dream. Aomine who was peeling apples beside him watched as the young man's eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight that seeped through the window curtains.

"Tetsu..."

Kuroko turned to look at the man who called out his name. "Mister..." He whispered. "...please don't kill me."

It was hard to say what happened in the fifteen years that Kuroko had disappeared and it was even more frightening to imagine or speculate what transpired in that span of time.

"I won't kill you." He reached out to grab Kuroko's small hand.

* * *

There were a lot of things Aomine wanted to ask but he knew this wasn't the right time to do that. He had an inkling that Kuroko didn't quite remember who he was. In the span of fifteen years, a vicious fire must've consumed his memories. Yes, that must've been it.

"Listen, Tetsu..."

"Tetsu?"

"Sorry. I meant Kuroko." Aomine straightened his posture. "I used to be a cop. I can help you get to the person who did this to you. You probably don't believe me now, but I'm a good guy. I don't have a badge with me, but I'm pretty sure I can show you something that can prove just that. Do you want to see papers or..."

"Papers would be nice, but if it makes you feel any better, I'm not scared of you. Not any more at least."

"Why?"

"What would you gain from this? I doubt I have anything on me that you wanted for yourself, and you don't seem to be the kind of person who'd abduct people just so they can entertain themselves." Kuroko stirred his coffee. "Also...I think I remember you a little bit. The truth is, my memories of the years I lived before I turned sixteen have been hazy...but I have a feeling you and I knew each other very well, possibly more than just school mates or even classmates."

Aomine's chest tightened, Kuroko's words were more than just comforting. "I guess you could say that..."

"Aomine-san, do you think the passage of time is incredibly unfair?" A question out of nowhere. "How long as it been since I've been missing? Five years? Ten?"

"Fifteen years, to be accurate."

"When I was abducted, they made sure I couldn't tell the flow of time. Being unable to tell from day and night was the first thing to alter my perception of time. After that, my body slowly adjusted to that and refused to grow. I'm still stuck in limbo. I've had little experience in life, and I'm empty as ever." The smaller man began to massage his temple, Kuroko was getting headache just from recalling what his life had been like for the last fifteen years.

It must've been traumatic for him, that much Aomine knew. If he brought Kuroko to the cops, they'd be pulling apart the knots forcefully, relentlessly barraging Kuroko with questions he would've preferred left unanswered. Any normal person would think that it'd be best to let the police handle this mess, but Aomine knew that whoever brought him to Kuroko wasn't about to let things end so easily. He had to know who he was up against.

"It's okay Kuroko. You don't have to force yourself telling me this. You can give me all the details when you're feeling better."

* * *

It was ten o' clock in the evening and Kuroko was taking a shower.

Aomine was on his laptop looking into the owners and co-owners or The Evergreen hotel. Being somewhat an unknown hotel, information was scarce. Unlike most hotels though, it seemed like a place that enjoyed its anonymity. He didn't want to ask Kuroko too many questions and took it upon himself to look it up on the internet.

Back then, Aomine always associated the internet with porn. Those were the days. He used to come home from work and furiously fapped to busty, fake blondes getting nailed by fat salarymen with censored faces. It was better than paying for sex or forcing yourself to get into a relationship just _**for **_the sex. He did it before, and he was never going to do it again.

"Thank you for everything Aomine-san." Kuroko stepped out of the bath donning Aomine's clothes that were all too big for him. He looked even more delicate than the Kuroko Aomine used to play basketball with. Was it because he was now perpetually suspended in time?

As Aomine aged, Kuroko stayed the child he was fifteen years ago. It was cruel. The passage of time was indeed cruel. Everyone was corrupted. The more he looked at Kuroko, the more he understood. He was up against someone who wanted to prepare for the heavy onslaught that was adulthood. The boy had become a window to the past.

Aomine struggled to find the words to describe the bizarre experiment that this mysterious figure performed on him, on Kuroko.

"Aomine-san, have you heard of the Horii Zoo fire?"

* * *

**Notes:** A slightly shorter chapter this week. Once again, thank you for the words of encouragement. I'm pretty happy some people find this creepy. That must mean I'm doing something right. Kuroko's past is still a mystery, and the so-caled 'boss' is still unknown. The complicated circumstances of Kuroko and Aomine's relationship is becoming more and more fun to write. I enjoyed writing Kuroko mostly because he has a gentler voice and presence than Aomine.

This is kind of like a second chance for Aomine to set things right, but at the same time- he has to face the people who abducted Kuroko and understand their reasons. I wish I could say more, but I'm a little tired. Have comments or questions? Fire away!

**P.S: **The Horii Zoo fire is a real event where 300 animals died. :(


End file.
